Ballast-removing machine



Jun 15 1926.

E. OVERMIER BALLAST REMOVING MACHINE 192 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original FiledNov. 5

fmmons averm/lsr 192 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 15 1926.

' E. OVERMIER BALLAST REMOVING MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 5

aw q 85 rl'ufentov June 15 1926.

E. OVERMIER BALLAST REMOVING MACHINE Emma/15 0Vc=rm [er Patented June15, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT ounce.

EMIMONS OVERMIER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MAINTENANCEEQUIP- MENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BALLAST-REMOVING MACHINE.

Application filed November 3, 1924, Serial No. 747,537. Renewed January11, 1926.

This invention relates to a ballast removing machine, or an' apparatusfor skeletonizing a section of railway track, that is, digging theballast or other material from between the ties and removing it to thesides of the track. More particularly, the invention relates to aself-contained, portable ap-' paratus, movable along the track forperforming this ballast removing operation.

The principal object of the invention is to produce a new and improvedmachine of this type, which is largely automatic in. operation, andeasily controlled.

Another object is to provide a'portable 15 machine of. this type,comprising a single power plant and connections therefrom for moving thecar from place to place and operating and feeding the diggers in alldesired directions. y

A further object is to provide such an apparatus which will first removethe material from between the ends of the ties, and from beneath therails, and will then remove the material from between the rails, thismate-" rial being thrown out through the excavations previously made atthe ends of the ties. I c

A further object is to provide an apparatus of this type comprising twosimilar oooperating units, each removing the material from one half ofthe trackway toward either side thereof, the two unitsbeing so mountedand timed that they may operate simultaneously without interfering withone another.

A further object is to provide an apparatus that will simultaneouslyremove the material from a plurality of adjacent cribs or spaces betweenadjacent ties.

A further object is to provide an apparatus for ultimately depositingall of the excavated material at one side 'of the track.

The above, and numerous other objects and advantages of this-inventionwill be ap- 5 parent from the following detailed description of oneapproved form of apparatus involving the principles of this invention.

, In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevationof the complete apparatus in position upon asection of railway track.

Fig. 2 is an end tus on a somewhat larger scale, looking from the leftat Fig. 1.

elevation of the appara- Fig. 3 is a detail elevation on a still largerscale of the outside digger, for example, the one at the right of Fig.2, indicating different operative positions of the digger.

Fig. 4 is a partial horizontal section through a portion of theapparatus, the view being taken substantially on the line 4-4 H of Fig.2.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of one of the outside diggers, showing amodified form adapted to simultaneously excavate two adjacent cribs.

. The car 1 which carries the apparatus hereinafter described, ismounted at its ends on wheels 2, adapted to travel on the rails 3supported in theusual manner on ties -1-. The platform 5 at one end ofthe car supports the engine or power plant 6 for driving the car and thedigging mechanism. This engine may be of any suitable type beingpreferably an internal combustion engine as here shown. The car 1 isdriven from place to place by means of a train of gearing, comprising asprocket chain 7 connecting the sprocket wheel 8 on engine shaft 9, witha sprocket 10 on longitudinal drive shaft 11 beneath the car, shaft 11being connected through suitable drive gearing (not shown) with the rearwheels 20f the car.

sprocket lt'on drive shaft '11 beneath the car. Gears 8 and 13 arenormally loose on engine shaft 9, and may be alternatively clutchedthereto by means of the intermediate clutch 15. The main engine clutchfor disconnecting the power, is indicated at 16.

The forward portion of car 1 comprises a base 17, and a superstructure18, built up of suitable metal beams, in which superstructure thedigging mechanism' is mounted. This digging apparatus consists of twoseparate substantially identical units, each one operating to excavateone-half of the roadway, that is, from the center line of the trackwayto one end of the ties. A driving crank 19 for one of these units ismounted at one side of superstructure 18 near one end thereof, and isrotated in the direction of the arrow Fig. 2, from engine shaft 9throughsprocket chain 20 engaging about sprocket 21 on the shaft 22 ofcrank 19.

. driving A similar crank arm 23, for driving the other digging unit, ismounted on shaft 24 at the other side and end of superstructure 18, andis driven continuously in the direction of the arrow Fig. 2, from engineshaft 9, through intermeshing spur gears 25 and 26, shaft 27 extendingtransversely through the upper central portion of superstructure 18,sprocket 28, sprocket chain 29, and sprocket 30, mounted on the crankshaft 24. It will be noted that through the trains of gearing justdescribed, cranks 19 and 23 will be simultaneously rotated at the samespeed but in opposite directions.

The excavating unit shown principally in the right ha'nol half of Fig. 2will firstbe described, it being understood that the unit shown on theleft is substantially iden tical therewith, such differences as existbeing pointed out hereinafter.

The excavating imit comprises an outer digger 31, adapted to remove thematerial from between the end portions of a pair of adjacent ties 4, andfrom beneath the rail 3, and an inner digger 32adapted to 'remove thematerial from the center line of the track, or slightly beyond thiscenter line, out to the rail 3. Each digger 31 or 32 comprises aplurality of scoops or spades 33, which are adapted to move in looped orelliptical paths, as indicated in dotted lines in the drawings, so as tofirst dig down into the ballast, then move outwardly substantiallyhorizontally to throw the material towards the side of the track, thenmove up and back over their former paths to repeat the operation. Thecribs or spaces 34 between adjacent ties 4 vary considerably in width inthe ordinary roadbed, and the spades, 33 are preferably madesufiicientlynarrow to operate in practically any of these cribs.

The outer digger 31 is mounted so as to slide in'a directionperpendicular to rails 3, upon rods or slideways 35 in' supporting frameor carriage 36. The reason for the sliding movement of digger 31 on rods35 will be explained hereinafter, but for the present, we may considerthe digger 31 as substantially fixed upon the rods 35 and movingbackwardly and forwardly with the carriage 36.

A pair of bell crank members 38 are centrally pivoted at 39 upon a crossshaft 40 mounted in suitable bearings 41 at the top of the upper portion37 0f superstructure 18. One lower corner 42 of the'triangularbell-crank member 38 is connected through links 43 with nuts 44 movablealong threaded shafts 45 which are suitably mounted in superstructure1,8. A second pair of bell crank members 46, similar to the bell cranks38, are similarly mounted upon the upper frame members 37, and the lowercorners 47 thereof are connected through links 48 with the lower corners42 of the bell cranks 38. Both sets of bell cranks 38 and 46 will benormally fixed in position, but may be swung about their pivots 40 and49 by a movement of nuts 44 longitudinally of threaded shafts 45. Across shaft 50 connects the corresponding upper inner ends 51 of hellcranks 46, and the upper corners 52 of a swinging framework oftrestle-like construction, comprising side bars 53 and inner cross bars54, are pivotally suspended on shaft 50. A similar swinging framework 55is pivotally hung from the inner upper ends 56 of bell cranks 38.

A casting or frame 57 comprises parallel side bars 58 and 59, pivoted attheir ends 60, on a shaft 61, mounted inears 62 on the upper side offrame or carriage 36. The other ends of bars 58 and 59 are pivoted at 63to the lower corners 64 of swinging frame 55. A 'pair of levers 65,intermediately pivoted at 66 to the central portion of bars 58'and 59,are pivoted at their upper outer ends 67 to the lower corners 68 ofswinging frame 53, and are pivoted at their inner lower ends to shortlinks 69 connected with ears 70 near the upper inner ends of carriage36. A connecting vrod or pitman 71 is mounted at one end on crank pin 72of crank arm 23, and at the other end is rigidly connected with theoutwardly projecting extension 73 of casting or frame 57. It will benoted that as crank arm 23 is rotated continuously in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 2, the pitman 71 will be moved back and forth lengthwiseof the ties 4, and will also swing intermediately about the pivotalconnections with the lower ends 64 of swinging frame 55 so that theouter ends 60 of the pitman will rise and fall, raising and lowering thecarriage 36,

as it is swung backwardly and forwardly. The structures 58, 59 and 65,65 constitute a lazy tongs'alternately expanded and contracted to lowerand raise the digger as it is oscillated. This will cause the carriage36, and consequently the digger 31 suspended therefrom, to move througha looped or elliptical path as indicated in dotted lines in thedrawings. The function of the second swinging frame 53, and the links65, is to impart a similar parallel motion to the other end of carriage36, the carriage remaining substantially parallel with the ground at alltimes. The short links 69 are to compensate for the varying distancesbetween the lower ends of levers 58, 59 and 65, as carriage 36 is raisedand lowered by the swinging movement of the operating pitman 71 aboutthe pivots 63.

A quite similar mechanism is provided for suspending and operating theinner digger 32. The pair of swinging frames 73 and 74 are suspendedfrom pairs of bell crank members 75 and 76, similar to bell crank 46 and38, respectively, which are connected to operate in unison by links 77,and whose positions are controlled by the nuts 78 movable along threadedshafts 79. An operatingipitman member 80, similar in construction to themembers 71 and 57 previously described, is pivoted at one end to thecrank pin 72, intermediately pivoted at 81, to the lower end of swingingframe 74, and pivoted at its other end 82 to the ears 83 at one upperend of digger 32. The lower corners of swingingframe 73 are pivoted at84 to the upper ends of links orlevers 85, centrally pivoted at 86 tointermediate portions of member 80, and pivoted at their other ends 87to short link 88 pivoted to ears '89 at the other upper end of digger32. In

the same manner as described in connection with digger 31, the pitman 80will be reciprocated longitudinally of ties 4 by the rotation ofcrank23, and will simultaneously rock about the pivots 81 to raise andlower thelever ends 82, thus moving the digger 32 through its looped orelliptical path As before, the swinging frame 73 and levers 85 act inconjunction with swinging frame 74, and lever 80 to maintain the digger32 parallel with the ground at all times. It will be noted that theinner and outer diggers 32 and 31 are simultaneously operated thrbughtheir respective paths by the same crank arm 23. a

A drive shaft 90 is mounted in the uppe portion of superstructure 18,this shaft being driven slowly in one direction from power plant 6through sprocket chain drive 91, or more rapidly in the oppositedirection through sprocket chain drive 92. The

sprocket wheels 93 and 94 which are nor mally loose on shaft may bealternativel clutched thereto by means of the intermediate clutchmechanism 95 controlled by hand lever 96, thus determining the directionand speed of rotation of shaft 90. Threaded shafts 45 are connected withshaft 90, through sprocket gearing 97 controlled by clutch mechanism 98,and threaded shafts 79 are similarly driven from shaft 90 throughsprocket gearing 99 controlled by clutch mechanism 100. During theexcavating operation, clutch control lever 96 will be thrown to theleft, ,Fig. 2, so that shaft 90 will be slowly driven in one direction,and clutch 98 will be thrown to operative position to cause threadedshaft 45 to'be rotated, and nut 44 to be moved toward the right, Fig. 2.This will gradually lower the ends 56 and 51 of bell cranks 38 and 46respectively, thus gradually lowering the carriage 36 and digger 31 asthey are moving through their elliptical orbits. Similarly digger 32 maybe lowered by throwing in the clutch 100. Both diggers may be much morerapidly elevated by throwing the clutch lever 96 toward the right Fig.2, thus driving shaft 90 in the opposite direction at a higher speedthrough sprocket gearing 92.

Referring now more particularly to Fig.3, it will be noted that whenouter digger 31 is at its extreme upper position, just prior to thebeginning of the excavating operation, its orbit of travel willnecessarily be entirely outside of andbeyond the rail 3. This positionof the parts is indicated in solid lines in this figure. However, it isdesirable that as this digger 31 is lowered during the excavatingprocess, it be-moved back beneath rail 3.to remove the material locatedbetween ties 4 and underneath the rail. The position of digger 31 atthis time is indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 3. It is for thisreasonthat the digger 31 is mounted for longitudinal sliding movement upon therods 35 in carriage 36. A bell crank 101 is centrally pivoted on shaft61 previously described, one end of the bell-crank 102 being connectedby link 103 with the slidable digger 31, and the other end 104 of thebell crank being pivoted to the lower end of an' upwardly extending link105. The upper end of link 105 is pivoted to one arm 106 ofa bell crank107; centrally pivoted at 108, in a bracket 109., permanently fixed inthe superstructure 18. The other arm 110 of the bell crank 107 isconnected by link 111 with the shaft 112, connecting the arms 56 of bellcranks 38. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that when put 44 is at thelefthand end of its travel on threaded shaft 45,

and the digger 31 and its suspending mechaward swingingniovement of belcranks 38 and 46, the movements simultaneously imparted to the system oflinks and levers 111, 107,105, 101, and 103, will gradually move thedigger mechanism 31 toward the left along the slide rods 35, so that theorbit of travel of this digger will project under the rail 3 when thedigger 31 has been lowered sufficiently to make this possible withoutstriking the, rail. Obviously, the digger will again be moved outwardlyalong the slide 35, when the digger is elevated to its original positionafter the excavating process has been completed.

The outer and inner diggers 113 and 114 at the left-hand side of theapparatus as seen in Fig. 2, are exactly similar to the diggers 31 and32 previously described, and are suspended and operated in the samemanner.

The pitmen 115 and 116 for. these diggers 113 and 114, are connectedreach to or slightly over the center line of the track, withoutinterfering with one another. The same drive shaft 90 serves to actuatethe adjusting mechanism for the supporting bell cranks of both sets ofdiggers.

In operation, we will assume that the engine 6 is operating and that car1 has been driven to the desired position above one of the cribs 34between ties 4, by means of the driving mechanism including sprocketdrive 7. The drive mechanism for the sevoral diggers is now thrown intogear, and these diggers will commence to travel through their ellipticalorbits, without, however, coming in contact with the ballast between theties, since the diggers are now at their extreme upper adjustment so asnot to contact with the material to be excavated. Clutches 98 are nowthrown into gear to actuate the lowering mechanism for one or both ofthe outer, diggers 31 and 113. These diggers will now be graduallylowered so that the material between the outer ends of ties 4 will bedug out and thrown beyond the outer side of the trackway. As thesediggers are lowered, their orbit Swill gradually be moved back beneaththe rails 3, to remove the ballast or other material from beneath therails. When this excavating operation is completed, the lowering of theouter diggers may be discontinued by throwing out the clutches 98.Clutches 100 may now be selectively thrown into gear to lower one orboth of the inner diggers 32 and 114. The material within the crib fromthe center line of the track to the rails 3, is now dug up by theseinner diggers and thrown into the excavation previously made by theouter diggers 31 and 113. The outer diggers being still in operationwill throw this material on beyond the ties of the track.

Since the spades 33 on the diggers cannot be made the full width of thecribs, due to the uneven spacing of ties 4, and hence the variablewidths of these cribs, it is desirable to slowly move the car 1longitudinally along the track while the diggers are within one of thecribs, to cause the digging operation to cover the entire Width of thecrib.

\ It is for this purpose that the slow speed drive 12, heretoforedescribed, is provided between engine 6 and the driving mechanism 11 ofcar 1. Of course, the engine 6 will be provided with a reversing gear,so that car 1 may be driven in either direction along the track, and bymeans of this reversing weasel gear and the slow speed drive 12, thediggers 33 may be moved back and forth across the width of a crib toentirely remove the material from between the ties.

When the excavation of a crib has been completed, the direction ofrotation of shaft 90 is reversed by throwing over the lever 96, and allof the diggers are quickly elevated, so that the car 1 may be movedalong the track to a new position over the next crib from which theballast is to be removed.

The diggers might be made multiple in form, so as to simultaneouslyoperate upon two or more adjacent cribs. One example of such aconstruction is indicated in Fig. 5. The frame or carriage 117, isadjustable along the slide rods 35 in the same manner as the upperportion of digger 31 in Fig. 2. At each side of carriage 117, diggers118 and 119, each of which corresponds to the digger 31 previouslydescribed, are mounted on transverse slide rods 120, the positions ofthe diggers being adjusted laterally by screws 121 provided with handwheels 122, and meshing within nuts 123 at the outer ends of rods 120,and connected at their inner ends with ears 124 on the diggers 118 and119. The operationwill be the same as previously described, except thattwo adj acent cribs 34 will be excavated at the same time. By suitablymanipulating the hand wheels 122, the relative positions of the diggers118 and 119 may be adapted to the particular spacing and shape of theties 4 and cribs 34 therebetween. Obviously the inner diggers may beconstructed in an exactly similar manner.

It is often desirable, for one reason or another, to have all of theexcavated material or ballast at one side of the track. For thispurpose, a swinging derrick mechanism, indicated generally at 125, ismounted on car 1, this mechanism comprising a lifting bucket 126, andhoisting mechanism 127,

"which may be operated in the usual manner from engine 6, whereby thematerial thrown out at one side of the trackway by the diggingmechanism, may be picked up by buck et 126, swung over to the other sideof the track, and dumped there along with the material thrown out atthat side by the other set of diggers. Furthermore, a part or all of theexcavated material may be picked up in bucket 126 and deposited in a caror other vehicle for removing same from that location. 1

- I claim:

1. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car and means supported thereon for diga car and meanssupported thereon for digging up the material between adjacent ties andremoving the same from the space between said ties..

3. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car and means supported thereon and operating on the roadbed surface between ties for digging up the material between adjacentties and moving the same in a direction parallel to the ties to a placebeyond the ends of the ties.

4. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car and means supported thereon and operating on the roadbed surface between ties for digging up the material between adjacentties and moving the same under one of the rails and to a place beyondthe ends of the ties.

5. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car and means supported thereon and operating in oppositedirections from the center of the track for digging up material betweenadjacent ties and moving the same outwardly beyond the ends of the ties.

6. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of va railway trackcomprising a car and means supported thereon and operating in oppositedirections from the center of the track for digging up material betweenadjacent ties and moving the same under the rails and outwardly beyondthe ties. Y

7. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car and means supportedthereon for excavating the materialbetween a pair of adjacent ties and under the, rail bearing thereon.

8.. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railwaytrackcomprising a car and means supported thereon and operating on the roadbed surface between ties for excavating the material between a pair ofadjacent ties and under the rail bearing thereon and moving saidmaterial outwardly beyond the ends of the ties.

9. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car and means supported thereon for excavating the materialbetween a pair of adjacent ties and under the rail bearing thereon andmoving said material outwardly beyond the ends of the ties, and meansfor".

digging up the material-within the rails and moving the same outwardlyin the space be: tween said ties.

10. Apparatusfor removing ballast from' the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car, a digger supported thereon extending transversely ofthe ties and arranged 'to operate in the space between adjacent ties,

transversely of the ties and arranged to operate in the space betweenadjacent ties,

means for moving said digger over a path parallel to said ties to dig upand carry material from the center portion of the track toward the endsof the ties, and means for progressively lowering the digger as theexcavation of material proceeds.

12. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car, a digger suported thereon extending transversely ofthe ties and arranged to operate in the space between the adjacent ties,and means for moving said digger in an elongated orbit parallel to thetles to dig up and carry material from the center portion of the tracktoward the ends of the ties.

13. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car, a digger supported thereon extending transversely ofthe ties and arranged tov operate in the space between the adjacentties, means for moving said digger in an elongated orbit parallel to theties to dig up and carry material from the center portion of the tracktoward the ends of the ties, and means for progressively lowering thedigger as the excavation of material proceeds.

14. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car, a pair of diggers supported there: on extendingtransversely of the ties and arranged to operate in the space betweenadjacent ties, one of said diggers being between the rails and the otheroutside of one of the rails, and means for moving said dig' gers 0 erpaths parallel to the ties.

I 15. pparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car, a pair of diggers supported thereon extendingtransversely of the ties and arranged to operate in the space betweenadjacent ties, one of said diggers being between the rails' and the.other outside of one of the rails, and means for moving said diggersover paths parallel to the ties, one of said diggers being adaptedtoiexcavate material from underneath a rail.

16. Apparatus for removing ballast from the road bed of a railway trackcomprising a car, a digger arranged to operate between 18. An apparatusfor removing materialfrom between the ties of a railway track,comprising a car movable along the track, a digger mounted on the car,means on the car for operating the digger in the space between a pair ofties in an elongated orbit so that it will move downwardly between theties, outwardly toward the ends of the ties, then upwardly and inwardly,means for feeding the digger downwardly to gradually lower its orbit oftravel, and means foradjusting the digger longitudinally of the ties asit moves downwardly, to carry the orbit of travel beneath a rail.

19. An apparatus for removing the material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, a pair ofdiggers mounted on the car and operable in the space between a pair ofties, one digger operating between the rails, and the other operatingunder one rail and in the space between this rail and the end of theties, and means on the car for operating the diggers.

20. An apparatus for removing the material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, two pairs ofdiggers mounted on the car and operating in the space between a pairofties, one digger of each pair digging etween the rails and, toward oneof the rails, and the other digging under this rail and toward the endsof the ties, and means on the car for operating the diggers.

21. An apparatus for removing the material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, two pairs ofdiggers mounted on the car and operating in the space between a pair ofties, one digger of each pair digging between the rails and toward oneof the rails, and the other digging under this rail and toward the endsof the ties, a power operating means on the car, and connections betweenthis operating means and each pair of diggers so that the diggers mayall operate simultaneously but in such timed relation that both innerdiggers are not at their innermost position at the same time.

22. An apparatus for removing the material from between the ties of arailway track, comprisin a car movable along the track, a pair 0diggers. mounted on the aosasoa car and operable in the space between apair of ties, one digger operating between the rails and the otheroperating in the space between one rail and the ends of the ties, meansfor adjusting the diggers downwardly, and means for causing the outerdigger to operate beneath the rail as its working zone is moveddownwardly.

23. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, a pair ofdigging mechanisms mounted on the car and adapted to operate between theties to dig up the material and remove it from the space between theties, one for each half of the road-bed, an engine carried by the car,and operating connections between the engine and each digging mechanism,whereby either mechanism can be operated independently of the other, orboth can be operated simultaneously. I

24. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, diggingmechanism mounted on the car and adapted to operate between the ties, anengine carried by the car, and driving connections operated from theengine for operating the digging mechanism and for feeding samedownwardly, progressively, as the excavation proceeds and for raisingthe same when the excavation is completed.

'25. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, a plurality ofdiggers mounted on the car and adapted to operate in the space between apair of ties, an engine carried by the car, means for simultaneouslyoperating all of the diggers from the engine, means for separatelyadjusting each digger up and down, a drive shaft operated from theengine, and separately controllable connections between this shaft andeatjl digger adjusting mechanism.

26. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, a plurality ofdiggers mounted on the car and adapted to operate in the space between apair of ties, an engine carried by the car, means for simultaneouslyoperating all of the diggers from the engine, means for separatelyadjusting each digger up and down, a drive shaft adapted to be drivenfrom the engine rapidly in one direction or slowly in the otherdirection, and separately controllable connections between this shaftand each of the digger adjusting mechanisms.

27. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a portable supporting frame, a rotary crankcarried in the frame, means for rotating the crank, a pair of swingingframes pivoted in spaced relation in the upper portion of the frame,means for simultaneously adjusting the frames up and down, a digger, apitman pivoted at one end to the crank, pivoted intermediately to one ofthe swinging frames, and pivoted at itsother end to the digger, andlever connections between the other swinging frame, the pitman and thedigger whereby the digger remains substantially parallel with the groundthroughout its swinging movements.

28. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a portable supporting frame, a rotary crankcarried. in the frame, means for rotating the crank, a pair of swingingframes pivoted in spaced relation in the upper portion of the frame,means for simultaneously adjusting the frames u and down, a pitmanpivoted at oneend to the crank, and intermediately to one of theswinging frames, a lever pivoted to the other swinging frame at'one endand intermediately to the pitman, a carriage sus- .pended from theremaining ends of the lever and pitman, and a' digger mounted onthecarriage.

29. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a portable supporting frame, a rotary crankcarried in the frame, means for rotating the crank, a pair of swingingframes pivoted in spaced relation in the upper portion of the frame,means for simultaneously adjusting the frames up and down, a pitmanpivoted at one end to the crank, and intermediately to one of theswinging frames, a lever pivoted to the other swinging frame at one endand intermediately to the pitman, a carriage suspended from theremaining ends of the lever and pitman, guides on the carriage, a diggermounted on the guides, and a system of levers and links connecting thedigger with the adjusting mechanism of the swinging frames, whereby thedigger is moved along the guides as the carriage is raised and low ered.

30. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties .of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, an engine onthe car, a frame structure on the car, a plurality of bell-crankspivoted in the upper portion of the frame, a plurality of cranks mountedin the lower portion of the frame and operable from the engine, aswinging frame suspended from each bellcrank, a plurality of pitmen,each pitman being connected at one end with a crank, and near the otherend with a pair of the swinging frames, a plurality of diggers,

each digger being suspended from a portion of a pitman and a pair of theswinging frames, and mechanism operated from the engine for selectivelyswinging the bellcranks about their pivots.

3-1. An apparatus forremoving material from'between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along the track, an engine onthe car, a frame structure on the car, a pair of bell-cranks pivoted inthe upper portion of the frame, a crank mounted in the lower portion ofthe frame and-operated from the engine, a swinging frame suspended fromeach bell-crank, a pitman pivoted at one end to thecrank and interme- 7diately to one of the swinging frames, a lever pivoted at one end to theother swinging frame and intermediately to the pitman, a diggersuspended from the remaining ends of the pitman and lever, and mechanismoperated from'the engine for swinging the bell-cranks about theirpivots.

32. An apparatus for removing material from the road bed of a railwaytrack comprising a car movable along the track, two digging mechanismsmounted on the car, one for removing material from between a pair ofties in the space between the rails, and the other for removing thematerial from the space under the rail and between the projecting endsof the ties, and power means mounted on the car for, operating the'digging mechanisms.

33. An apparatus for removing material from the roadbed of a railwaytrack comprising a car movable along the track, two digging mechanismsmounted on the car, one

for removing material from between a pair .ed on the car,and'connections between the power means and the digging mechanisms,whereby these mechanisms may be operated 1 either individually orsimultaneously.

, 34. An apparatus for removing material from the road bed of a railwaytrack comprising a car movable along the track, and a pair of'similardiggin mechanisms mounted on the car for removing the material frombetween a pair of ties, each mechanism operating in one-half of theroadbed and comprising two diggers, one operating between therailsand'the other under a rail and be- 118 tween the projecting ends ofthe ties.

35. In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a'lazy-tongsstructure for supporting the digger, and means for oscillating thedigger for alternately expanding 120 and contracting the lazy-tongs.

36. In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a lazy-tongsstructure pivoted at its upper end for supporting the digger, and meansfor. simultaneously swinging the lazy-tongs about their pivot andalternately expanding and contracting the same, to move the digger overa closed curved path.

' 37. In excavating apparatus, the combination with a digger, of ahanger pivoted at 1 re: weasel its upper end for supporting the digger,and means for simultaneously swinging the hanger about its pivotalsupport and elongating or contracting the hanger to produce a movementof the digger over'a closed curved path.

38. In excavating apparatus, the com bination with a digger, a hangerpivoted at its upper end for supporting the digger, means forsimultaneously swinging the hanger about its pivotal support, andelongating or contracting the hanger to produce a movement of. thedigger over a closed curved path, and means for progressively loweringthe pivotal support for the hanger as the excavating proceeds.

39. In excavating apparatus, the combination with a digger, a hangerpivoted at its upper end for supporting the digger, means forsimultaneously swinging the hanger about its pivotal support, andelongating or contracting the hanger to produce a movement of the digger0\ er a closed curved path, means for progressively lowering the pivotalsupport for the hanger as the excavating proceeds, and driving mechanismfor producing the oscillating movement of the hanger and the loweringmovement of the pivotal support.

. t0. In excavating apparatus, the combina tion of a digger, a rockingsupport on which said digger is mounted for oscillatory move ments, andmeans for rocking said support so as to lower the digger as theexcavation proceeds.

41. In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a rockingsupport from which the digger is suspended for oscillatory movements, ascrew and a nut on the screw for producing gradual pivotal movements ofthe support to lower the digger, and mechanism for driving the screw andimparting oscillatory movements to the digger.

42. In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a carriage onwhich the digger is movably arranged, means for giving oscillatorymovements to the carriage, and mechanism for lowering the carriage andsimultaneously moving the digger on said carriage.

43. In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a lever towhich said digger is attached, an oscillating structure on which saidlever is fulcrumed, and means for giving rocking and longitudinalmovements to the lever in opposite directions so as to cause the diggerto move over a closed path.

44. In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a lever towhich said digger is attached, an oscillating structure on which saidlever is fulcrumed, means for giving rocking and longitudinal movementsto the lever in opposite directions so as to cause the digger to moveover a closed path, a rocking support for said oscillatory structure,and means for rocking said support to lower the digger as the excavationproceeds.

(l5. In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a pair oflevers pivoted together for supporting said digger, swinging structuresto which said levers are pivoted, a pitman constituting an extension ofone of said levers, and a crank to which said pitman is pivoted. I

46 In excavating apparatus, the combination of a digger, a pair oflevers pivoted together with the lower extremities of which said diggeris connected to allow angular movement as between said levers, swingingstructures to which the. levers are connected above their connectionwith each other, a pitman constituting an extension of one of saidlevers beyond the connection thereof with the swinging structure, and acrank to which the extremity of the pitman is attached.

l7. In excavating apparatus,- the combination of a digger, a pair oflevers pivoted together with the lower extremities of which said diggeris connected to allow angular movement as between said levers, swingingstructures to which the levers are connected above their connection witheach other, a pitman constituting an extension of one of said leversbeyond the connection thereof with the swinging structure, a crank towhich the extremity of the pitman is attached, bell cranks on which saidswinging structures are suspended, driving mechanism for the pitman, andmechanism operated thereby for rocking the bell cranks to lower thedigger as the excavation proceeds.

48. In excavating apparatus, a pair of diggers, means for moving saiddiggers in closed, curved, overlapping paths over which the diggers moveaway from each other while digging and toward each other on the returnparts of their movements, and means for supporting the diggers so thatthey reach the overlapping part of their paths at diflferent times.

49. In excavating apparatus, two diggers, means for moving said diggersin curved, closed paths, over which the diggers move in the samedirection during their digging operations, and means for shifting one ofsaid diggers during the excavatingoperation so that its path is movedtoward the path of the other digger.

50. In excavating apparatus, twodiggers, means for moving said diggersin curved, closed paths, over which the diggers move in the samedirection during their digging operations, means for shifting one ofsaid diggers during the excavating operation so that its path is movedtoward the'path of the other digger, and means for gradually loweringsaid diggers as the excavation proceeds.

51. In excavating apparatus, a pair of digt ll gers, means for movingsaid diggers in closed, curved paths over which the diggers move awayfrom each other during theirdigging operations, a pair of diggers inline with and outside of the first named diggers, and means ior movingsaid outside diggers in curved paths in irections away from the otherdlggers, during their digging operations.

52. In excavating apparatus, a pair of diggers, means for moving saiddiggers closed, curved paths over which the diggers move away from eachother during their digging operations, a pair of diggers in line withand outside of the first named diggers, means for moving said outsidediggers in curved paths in directions away from the other diggers,during their digging operations, and means for radually shifting theouter pair of diggers inwardly so that their paths of movement approachthe paths of movement of the inner pair.

53. In excavating apparatus, a pair of diggers, means for movlng saiddiggers in closed, curved paths over which the diggers move away fromeach other during their digging operations, a pair of diggers in linewith and outside of the first named diggers, means for movin saidoutside diggers in curved paths in irections away from the other diggersdurin their digging operations, means for gra ually shiftmgfhe outerpair of diggers inwardly sothat t eir paths of movement approach thepaths of movement of the inner pair, and means for gradually loweringthe diggers as the excavation proceeds.

54. An apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along a track, digging meansmounted on the car to move transversely of the track between a air ofties, and means for operating said igging means. x

" 55. An apparatus for removing material from'between the ties of arailway track,

comprising -a car movable along a track, digging units mounted on thecar to move in opposite directions transversely of the track between apair of ties, and means for operating said digging means.

56. In an apparatus for removing material from between the ties of arailway track, comprising a car movable along a railway track, aplurality of diggers operable in opposite directions in an elongatedorbit between two adjacent ties, and means! for operating said diggingmeans.

' EMMONS OVERMIER.

